


A Furry Situation

by AnxiouslyNerdy



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Bonding, Cat!Keith, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Langst, M/M, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Protective! Lance, klangst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-06
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2018-11-09 23:40:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 20,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11115324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnxiouslyNerdy/pseuds/AnxiouslyNerdy
Summary: Lance and Keith fall into battle with Haggar. She aims to harm Lance, but Keith gets in the way...putting him in a bit of a furry situation.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer:
> 
> All rights reserved to DreamWorks Animation and World Events Productions, who have brought Voltron back to life. Other wise this fan-fiction and it's OCs are created by me.

It was supposed to be a normal mission, but of course it wasn’t. Keith was sent to infiltrate a Galra ship. No one important was aboard it. It was mainly full of supplies. Yet, somehow, he missed the fact that Haggar decided to tag along on said ship. He held his own against her, until backup could arrive. Lance got there first. Bayard activated and ready to go. Without only two of them, they start to become out numbered. Apparently Galra are heavily armed, even on a ship like this.

Lance gets tripped up, and Haggar approaches him. Keith dives in front of the purple blast Haggar produces. His screams make the other Paladin’s flinch, as it screeches over the com system. “Keith!” Lance shrieks as the Red Paladin is hit again. 

With a roaring battle cry, Lance turns his bayard on Haggar grazing her arm as the yellow lion claws through the side of the ship. With the approach of the rest of Voltron, Haggar fleas, leaving the rest of the Galra’s at the mercy of the Paladins, which after so long…it’s almost nonexistent.

Keith is unconscious through the rest of the battle. Lance cradles him in his arms, with his back to a wall, and his bayard held in front of Keith’s body. Fighting off anyone who dares to even look their way. 

Shiro offers to carry Keith, but Lance refuses to let him go. Instead he brings him into Blue, while Shiro uses the Black lion to carefully bring Red back to the Castle. Lance manages to get Keith positioned o his lap. It’s a bit uncomfortable, but he’s reluctant to let his rival, (secret crush) go. The idiot decided to take a possibly deadly hit for Lance. Which he doesn’t understand. Why would someone who hates him so much be willing to do that?

It would be different if it was one of the other Paladins, someone more useful to the team. Not Lance, not the screw up, seventh wheel. The fact that Keith did, is doing weird things to Lance’s heart. Maybe even giving him false hope.

It takes far too long to get back to the hangers. It wouldn’t be concerning, except Keith’s breathing weird…not labored, not shallow, almost like…purring. Blue rumbles in Lance’s head, almost like a coo. It makes Lance want to nuzzle his face in Keith’s hair, but he refrains. 

Moving as quick as he can, he’s up and out of his lion in no time. He’s starting to struggle to struggle with Keith’s weight, even though he’s a lot lighter than Lance assumes. The fatigue from battle is wearing him down, but he won’t stop. Not until he’s sure Keith is in a healing pod.

Coran helps him get Keith into a med suit, and situation into a pod. As soon as the glass door closes, Lance collapses to his knees. He turns to the side, and leans against the pod where Keith is healing. “You idiot.” Lance snarls, glaring up at Keith’s face. “Why would you do something so incredibly stupid?”

“Lance?” Shiro asks coming entering the med bay and coming closer. “What happened?”

“Haggar used her magic or whatever it is. She was aiming for me. Keith jumped in front of it and took the hit. Why would he do that?”

Shiro glances at Keith then sighs. “I know it doesn’t always seem like it, but he cares about you.

Lance scoffs, ‘Sure he does.” 

Smiling sadly, Shiro debates before saying. “You should shower, get changed, and eat something.”

“I’m fine.”

“Lance…”

“I’m fine. Which is more than I can say for Keith. We have no idea what that hocus pocus could do to him. I’m staying right here until I know he’s okay.”

“Hmm. It almost sounds like you care about him too.”

Lance blanches and stutters, “Pfft, no. I-I just wouldn’t have anyone to torment anymore. My concern is strictly for Rivalry purposes.”

“Sure it is.” Shiro chuckles, leaving the room.

Lance didn’t move, couldn’t move from where he was curled up against Keith’s pod. He has fallen asleep after sitting alone for a few hours, only startling away when the pod opens. Rubbing his eyes he looks up, only to panic. Keith is gone! He frantically gets up and is about to get the other’s but is stopped by a tiny meow.

He looks down and something is moving around in the discarded med suit. Cautiously Lance squats down, maneuvers the clothes, and gapes at the tiny, probably a little bigger than his palm, cat. Its eyes are purple…just like Keith’s, and it’s fur is as black as the space they’ve been traveling through.

“Keith?” Lance whispers.

The cat looks up at him and meows again.

“Oh my God…you’re…you’re a freaking cat…Quiznak!”

His little fluffy ears droop, and he mews quietly. 

“Hey it’s okay. We’ll figure this out.” Lance holds his hand out, and Keith sniffs it before climbing onto it.

Carefully Lance cradles the tiny kitten in his arms, and Keith starts to purr loudly. Chuckling Lance scratches between Keith’s ears, getting the cat to close his eyes. The rest of the Paladin’s are in the dining hall with Allura and Coran. They look up when Lance walks in. “Um guys. Keith sorta turned into a cat.”

Everyone looks at him like he’s insane so he holds out the black fluffy kitten for them to see. Keith protests with a winey meow, until Lance holds him against his chest again. Shiro stares for a moment before coming up with a plan. “Coran, can you see what happened? Lance, it seems like he’s comfortable with you, so can you make sure he’s taken care of?”

“Yeah definitely. I uh, mean…sure I guess, I’ll look after Mullet.”

Hunk gives him a knowing look which Lance promptly ignores. Instead he resumes scratching behind Keith’s ear, reveling in the fact that he can make the hot-headed Red Paladin purr. Pidge gets up with a smirk on her face. “I wonder why he’s so clingy with you.” Then she reaches out to pet Keith, but the kitten hisses and swats at her hand. “Quiznak! That hurt you little—”

“He’s probably scared. Who knows if he recognizes or knows any of us.” Allura supplies, trying to keep the peace as always.

Keith pouts, staring up at Lance. He knows them. He has all his memories, but…something instinctual is drawing him to the Blue Paladin. His touch is calming. Besides, he’s always shied away from everyone anyway. He was surprised when he automatically crawled into Lance’s hand, and that he feels like he belongs against the energetic boy’s chest. It’s comfortable, and soon the thud of his heart lulls Keith to sleep. 

“Aww,” Hunk coos. “He’s so cute.”

Shiro snorts, “Don’t let him ever hear you say that.”

Lance stares down at the sleeping cat, and startles when Pidge clears her throat. “Don’t even start.” Lance deadpans. “He’s still my rival.”

“I’m less and less convinces of that so-called rivalry every day.”

“Whatever. Mullet and I will always compete and he will always be my arch nemesis.” With that, Lance takes the sleeping cat to his room. He figured it was safer for the tiny thing to stay with him. At least that’s what he’ll tell everyone.

Lance adjusts his blankets, making a nest of sorts and tries to set Keith in it. He yelps as the cat digs its claws into him arm, unwilling to let go. “Come on Mullet, I need to shower.”

It seems like Keith was about to let go, but doesn’t.

Sighing Lance grabs his extra pillow and brings it into the bathroom with him. Setting it on the floor by the door, he sets the reluctant car down. “Just make sure you face the wall. In case you’re actually in there…I don’t need you to hold this over me, or tease me.”

Tease him? Why would Lance think the Red Paladin would ever do that? Sure they playfully banter…but maybe Lance takes it more seriously than Keith means it.

Shedding his armor, Lance jumps when the kitten nudges his ankle. “What?”

Keith looks up at him with pleading eyes and mews.

Leaning down, Lance scratches Keith’s head, and nudges him toward the pillow. “I’ll just be a few minutes. Then we’ll give you a bath.”

Keith hisses as he turns around, instincts taking over again. He normally loves a steaming hot shower after battle.

He’s startled when Lance starts singing…beautifully. He had no idea Lance has a voice like that. No idea that when he sings everything else around him stops. Keith is so entranced that he didn’t realized he turned to face the shower again. 

“Ah! Keith! Close your eyes or something you…you little perv.” Lance screeches covering himself with his hands the best he can. Keith shrieks back, balling up to hide his face. He didn’t mean to peek at Lance. Besides, he barely saw anything.

After Lance gets dressed, he runs the bath, making sure it isn’t too deep. “Alright Mullet, bath time.”

Raising his head the Red Paladin growls, but it doesn’t deter Lance in the slightest. Instead he coos, “Oh aren’t you a big bad kitty.” Then easily picks Keith up and gently sets him in the water. Carefully Lance Uses a dab of his shampoo, and needs it into Keith’s fur. He hums as he works, and Keith starts to purr, again.

“Ya know, I’m not sure if you can understand me, but thanks. You didn’t have to take that hit. You could have let me go down. You’re a good guy, Mullet.”

Keith lets out a higher pitched meow, with some louder purrs.

“I wish I understood cat.” Lance muses as he takes Keith out of the tub, wrapping a small hand towel around him.

He puts on one of his facial masks, finishes drying the cat off, and places Keith on his shoulder. Keith tries to keep balanced without digging his nails in and somehow actually managed it. Grabbing the pillow Lance sets it on the floor next to his bed and tries to put Keith on it. Who refuses, claws now in full force. 

“Ow, ow, ow…okay! Enough with the claws! You can sleep with me.”

Lance sets him on the bed, and pulls back the blankets to get comfortable. He’s trained himself to sleep on his back, to keep his face masks from getting all over the place. Once he’s in his normal position, Keith crawls up from the foot of the bed, and onto Lance’s sternum. He circles around a few times before settling in. Lance watches him with curious eyes and asks, “Are you scared?”

“Not with you.” Keith thinks.

“I bet not. You’re Keith. You’re not afraid of anything. I wish…I wish I could be that way. He…you…just stare fear in the face and charge.” Lance snorts, “I’m really hoping you have some cat-brain thing where you don’t understand any of this.”

Keith blinks at him, thinking how funny it is that Lance wishes he was more like him. Because Keith wishes he was more like Lance, carefree…happy. He rubs his cheek against   
Lance’s chest, trying to comfort him. The Blue Paladin brings up a hand and scratches between Keith’s ears. He smiles softly, “You’re cute.” 

Keith meows, trying to protest, but falls victim to how good Lance’s gentle fingers feel against his head. His touches get softer, willing the cat to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!
> 
> So this chapter is a little shorter. I ended up having to go into work today, so I didn't get as much writing time as I would have normally liked, but also didn't want to miss an update!

When Lance wakes, he has a ball of fur next to his neck, on his pillow. Keith’s tiny head is pressed against where his neck meets his shoulder. He’s about to coo, but alarms start to sound through the ship with Allura’s voice. “Paladins! To your Lions! A Galra ship has approached us.”

Lance flies out of bed, causing Keith to tumble away from him. The kitten follows Lance as he hurriedly changes. He’s right on Lance’s heels, until the Blue Paladin picks him up and puts him back on the bed. “Stay here.” Then he sprints away, the door sliding shut behind him.

The entire time Lance is gone, Keith paces by the door, tail swishing irritably. It feels like an eternity has passed when the door slides open. Immediately Keith growls and swats at Lance’s foot.

“Don’t be mad. You can’t pilot a Lion as a cat. I was just keeping you safe.”

Sulking the Red Paladin walks away, only to turn back when Lance hisses in pain. Carefully, he sheds his armor and suit. There’s a massive purple bruise blooming on his side, and Keith just noticed the cut on Lance’s eyebrow. Groaning, Lance pulls on some sweatpants, and sits on his bed. Keith circles his leg, nudging his head against it. Trying to be comforting. Getting the hind, Lance lifts Keith onto the bed, holding his breath from the pain the entire time. 

Once Keith is set on the soft bed, he climbs onto Lance’s lap, curiously looking at his bruise. As carefully as he can, he rubs against it.

Lance inhales sharply. “Hey, Mullet. I know you don’t understand, but I need you to not touch that. Blue was side swiped, and we slammed into the ground. I lost my grip…landed hard.”

Keith mews concerned, pawing at Lance’s stomach. He’s scooped up, and held eye level with the Blue Paladin. “You really must not be Keith. He would probably chide me for not being able to stay in my seat.”

Keith meows, feeling guilty. He hates that he made Lance feel like he didn’t care. He’s just awkward and doesn’t know how to deal with his feelings. A little dejected he bumps his damp nose against Lance’s.

“Awe, aren’t you cute.” Lance coos, nuzzling the kitten against his face.

Which drew Keith’s attention back to the cut by Lance’s eyebrow. With his paws on the Blue Paladin’s cheek bones, he carefully licks at the cut. Drawing a startled grunt from Lance. When he pulls the cat away, Keith protests the best he can with no human language, until Lance chuckles, lays down, and lets Keith continue cleaning his wound.

“You know, Mullet would be pretty embarrassed to know he turned into a cat and has been so nice to me. Then to top it off, said cat is cleaning my wounds.”

The Red Paladin pauses for a moment, cursing the stupid cat instincts. The desire to make sure his friend…wait…they are friends, right...safe is stronger than his pride. So he continues until he feels the wound it sufficiently clean.

Lance sighs, scratching the kitten’s ear. “I really hope Coran and Pidge figure out how to change you back soon. We needed you today. I tried to step up but…” Lance tightly shuts his eyes,” I can’t fill your shoes, well…paws now, but you get what I’m saying. Actually, you probably don’t…but—”

Keith bumps his nose against Lance’s, wanting him to stop rambling and talking down about himself.

Lance looks right into Keith’s purple eyes, and for a long moment just stares at him. Feeling another urge Keith rubs his tiny kitten head along Lance’s jaw. Trying to portray how he feels. He knows for certain, once he has his body, and more importantly, his voice, he’ll tell Lance. Tell him that his ocean blue eyes are memorizing. Tell him that his tan skin is beautiful. Tell him how much he wishes Lance felt the same way about him.

“Hey buddy, you okay?” Lance asked the whining kitten.

Keith hadn’t realized he was whimpering, but it doesn’t stop him from continuing to nuzzle Lance’s jaw.

“I’m fine. I promise. I’ll be okay after some r and r.”

Without his face mask on, Lance lays on his side, and Keith snuggles up against his chest with his head tucked under the Blue Paladin’s jaw.  
“Hey Mullet,” Lance mutters.

Keith mews.

“Thanks again…you keep helping me, and…I guess I didn’t realize how much I needed someone to have my back. Even if the first time was because we’re teammate and now…well, you’re a cat, cats tend to comfort people.”

Keith purrs softly, sadly. Lance doesn’t think he cares even a little about him…he needs change that.

Neither of them get much time to relax, because soon the sirens are blaring again. “Paladins, we have received a distress signal. Meet in the control room for further instruction.”  
Groaning, Lance starts to suit up, and as he heads to the door, Keith chases after him, determined to go with this time. Lance scoops him up, and is about to put him back in the room, but Keith hurries onto his shoulder, not willing to budge.

“Fine! You can come with.” Lance grumbles. “I just didn’t want you to get hurt.”

Keith holds his head high as Lance enters the control room. Everyone’s eyes fall on Keith, who just puffs his little chest out.

“What?” He wouldn’t let me leave him.”

Allura nods. “Right. Well, it looks like the call may have been a false alarm, but Lance, Hunk, why don’t you two go double check?”

Lance attempts to take Keith down, to give him to Shiro, but Shiro has to pull his hand back when Keith hisses, clinging to Lance’s wrist. “Ugh! Whatever. Just don’t get lost. You will stay on my shoulder! Got it?” Lance asks, holding the kitten in front of his face, who pouts and mews, making everyone coo.

The Blue paladin grumbles to himself, as he makes his way to the entrance of his Lion. To his surprise, Keith holds strong to his armor as they take the zip line, slide, and hover cycle to Lance’s Lion. Blue purrs in Lance’s head, and he knows she’s poking fun at him for Keith being with. He pouts some more, putting his hands on the controls, and flying out into the sky. Hunk is at his right, and they hurry to the nearby planet.

When they land, they’re greeted by a group of Aliens that look a lot like Galra, but are a light blue instead of purple, with much softer features. “Hello, we are Paladin’s of Voltron. We heard your distress call, and wanted to make sure everything was okay.” Hunk says, to the group who have their attention on a little fluff ball on Lance’s shoulder. Luckily this planet has breathable air, otherwise Keith would have had to stay on Blue.

Lance nervously picks Keith up off his shoulder, and holds him against his chest. “What is this creature?” A young man asks.

“He’s one of our Paladins. Haggar turned him into a cat.” Lance answers, feeling more and more uncomfortable.

The curious one, reaches his hand out, but Keith hisses, causing him to jump back. “If he a dangerous beast?”

“Um no.” Hunk chuckles.

“I want him.” One girl says.

“No I do!” Another shouts.

“Wait just a minute. No one gets him. He’s mine…er…I mean he’s our Red Paladin. We’re figuring out how to turn him back. Now if you don’t need us, we will be leaving.” Lance growls back.

They turn to leave, but a few at once lunge at Lance. In seconds, he has his Bayard out and pointed in one of their faces. “We mean to harm, but if you threaten to kidnap one of us, we won’t show you such kindness.”

“Lance…” Hunk breathes, “Let’s get to our Lion’s…and calm down. I’m sure they meant to harm.”

Never dropping his Bayard, he protectively keeps Keith against his chest. “No one moves until you can no longer see our Lion’s.”

They nod nervously, giving Lance and Hunk a chance to retreat. Lance feels like he’s never flown Blue as fast as he did returning to the castle. He brushes everyone off and shut himself and Keith in his room. 

“Are you okay?” He asks, voice shaking.

Keith blinks a couple of times, before meowing.

“Sorry if I scared you or anything. I just…couldn’t stand the thought of them taking you.” Lance, who’s back was against his door, slides down to the floor. “It’s bad enough you’re a cat, and aren’t really here. But in that moment, all I could think about was how confused you’d be if you became you somewhere strange.”

Keith walks over to Lance’s bed, paying at the leg of it. Sighing, Lance gets up, sheds his armor again, picks up Keith, and curls under the covers in just his boxers. Keith licks Lance’s jaw before settling under his jaw, snuggled right up against Lance, breathing in his almost ocean-y scent. He closes his eyes, purrs, and thinks, “Thank you…for not letting him take me.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up
> 
> *Self hatred talk  
> *Mild Smut

A few weeks later, Keith is still a cat, but a much bigger cat. The tiny, fit in your palm cat has grown into an almost panther sized cat. A few days ago, Lance had woken up to a heavy weight on his chest, and screamed, scaring the Red Paladin. Keith has yet to get used to his new size, because he still insists on clinging to Lance. 

“So we think he’ll continue to grow, then eventually turn back into a human. He just has to let the cycle of whatever he was hit with, finish.” Pidge says, patting the now waist high, cat. 

Keith quite honestly is a bit tired of being a cat, and has yet to figure out a way to tell them he’s still him. That he still has his own mind. He follows Lance out of the dining hall letting Lance’s hand brush along his back. He’s grown used to Lance’s touch, almost craves it now. When they get back to the Blue Paladin’s room, Lance flops down on the bed, with his arm covering his eyes. “This sucks.”

Keith jumps onto his bed, and nudges Lance with his nose, in a silent request to elaborate.

“Not that I don’t enjoy your company but you’re…always…here. I’m a young adult, I could use some privacy sometimes you know…we’ve been away from Earth for…for years now.   
I’m uh…lonely? I guess you could put it that way. Er, uh…release helps sometimes.”

Keith cocks his head to the side, ears twitching curiously. His eyes drops to Lance’s waist.

“Hey! Stop looking at my junk. It’s not like it’s visible just because I want to get off. Geez…you’re a pervy cat aren’t you?”

Keith chuckles, but it comes out as a choppy purr.

“Don’t laugh at me. You can’t tell me you don’t think about things like that…or well, that Keith wouldn’t think things like that.”

Keith, lays his head on his paws, not really knowing how to portray an answer to that, because…yeah he has…but he had the privacy to do something about it.

It’s quite for a while, then Lance ponders out loud. “I wonder what he thinks about…Is it Allura? I’ve seen the way he sometimes looks at her. Or, or maybe a girl from a planet we’ve saved, or from Earth.”

Keith snorts, drawing Lance’s attention back to him.

He raises one of his perfectly sculpted eyebrows, and asks, “Not a girl?”

Keith doesn’t move, or do anything to express if Lance is right or not.

“I forgot…you wouldn’t know…but maybe…maybe he thinks of…of boys.” Lance covers his eyes again, his other hand resting on his stomach. “I bet he thinks about hard muscles, and sharp jaw bones.” 

Keith knows he shouldn’t stay here, shouldn’t be watching as Lance’s hand inches lower and lower.

“A-about purple eyes, and a-a stupid mullet.”

Wait…is, is Lance talking about him now? Did he get so lost in wondering what Keith thinks about, and is now, thinking of Keith.

“O-Or the way his body tightens when he trains, his muscles contracting, hair damp.”

If he could, Keith would be blushing, his eyes still trained on Lance’s hand, fingers dipped into his jeans.

“When he takes his shirt off...” Lance gives in, quickly unbuttoning his pants and pushing them down to his thighs.

Keith’s heart rate sky rockets, but he does his best to stay quiet, because he’s pretty sure Lance forgot he was there.

“Fuck…” Lance breathes, and the Red Paladin never takes his eyes from Lance’s hand that’s expertly stroking himself. After a few minutes, Lance comes with Keith’s name rushing from him mouth. 

Not being able to stop himself, Keith purrs loudly, making Lance jump a little. 

“Yep…you’re definitely a perv. Lucky for your I’m still blissed out. I’ll scold you later.”

Keith waits while Lance cleans himself up, then snuggles up to the Blue Paladin, his much heavier head, resting on Lance’s chest. Giving in, not able to resist those large purple eyes, Lance gently strokes the top of Keith’s head. Keith closes his eyes, letting himself the soft touch.

“Hey, Mullet?”

Keith half opens his eyes.

“If any part of you remembers this…could you…uh…not make fun of me for it. I-I’ll understand if you don’t like me or whatever, but just…I don’t think I could handle if this was held over my head. Bad enough you’ll already know, and this is not the way I wanted you to find out, but…yeah.”

Keith whines softly, nuzzling his snout on Lance’s chin, their faces almost the same size now. He comforts him the only way he can right now, by scenting him. At first, he didn’t know that’s what he was doing, but one day when he was bored, he was sitting near Pridge, who was researching cat mannerisms. Trying to see if he was trying to communicate or not. 

Lance hums, hands on either side of Keith’s head, and rubs his face against the cat. “You’re so soft.”

Keith continues to scent Lance, excited that he’s returning the gesture. “You’ll be mine as soon as I can talk again.” Keith thinks. “I won’t let you slip away.”

Lance rubs the Red Paladins ears, before moving the cat’s head onto his pillow. He’s quit wearing his overnight face masks, because he’s woken up way too many times with cat hair in them. He turns on his side, tucking Keith’s head under his chin, his hands gently scratching the cat’s jaw. 

They must have fallen asleep shortly after that, because when Lance wakes, Keith is gone. Stretching, Lance takes his time getting up. After the first few days after Keith turned into a cat, he got more comfortable and started roaming the castle. Right now, he was probably eating, or bothering Shiro. Lance showers, and as he’s drying his hair, he notices something on his shoulder, near his neck. He wipes the steam from the mirror, and stares mortified, “He fucking bit me! When the hell did he do that? Oh…he’s going to be in so much trouble.”

Dressing in a hurry, Lance storms from his room, anger flaring. Keith isn’t in the training room with Shiro, or the dining hall with hunk. Confused, he heads to the common area. Just to pause in the door way, his anger slowly melting away. Pidge is sitting on the back of one of the couches, holding a laser light in one hand, covering her mouth with another. Lance slowly climbs onto the couch next to her, and watches as Keith leaps back and forth after a small red light. At one point both his paws are “covering” the light. He slowly lifts his paws, growling when he sees the light is gone. Snickering, Pidge turns it on again, and Keith chases it through the room, and when Lance wasn’t looking, he wiggles it around his chest. Suddenly he’s on his back, with Keiths weight holding him down.

“Pidge! You little shit. You did that on purpose.”

“Duh. Why wouldn’t—Lance…what’s on your neck?”

Pushing Keith off of himself, he pulls his jacket back into place hiding the bite mark. “Nothing.”

“Shut up, that’s not nothing. Did he bite you?” Pidge turns to Keith, “Bad kitty! You don’t bite.”

Keith’s ears flatten against his skull, and he starts to nuzzle against his bite mark. Pidges eyes widen, so Lance asks, “What?”

“He…wow. I can’t believe I didn’t notice this before. Like obviously, he’s going of some cat instincts, but…Lance…I think Keith is in there still. Like it’s still his mind.”

“Shut up, he is not. If he was in there, he wouldn’t be anywhere near me. Remember? He hates me. Thinks I suck at everything I do. Who can blame him? I’m just…just a seventh wheel. I’m not…I mean…sure you guys try to include me. We’ve grown tighter as a team over the years, who wouldn’t you know? But…but I get it, I do. I just…I just wanted to…to hang out with the damn cat. Who…who actually listens…w-who actually…c-cares!”

Lance rubs harshly at his eyes, before storming out of the common room. Keith is about to go after him, but Pidge puts a hand on his head, “Just…let him cool down.”

Keith moves out of her grasp, and heads to the kitchen, hoping for a distraction of how terrible he feels. He never meant to make Lance feel that way. Never meant to make him think he wasn’t any good. He just wanted to push him, to make him train harder, to make sure he’s safe.

“Oh! Hey buddy!” Hunk greets. “Where’s Lance? Normally you two are connected at the hip?”

Keith flattens his ears to his skull, and lays down with his head on his paws.

“Is he having on of his low self-esteem days?” Keith twitches an ear. “I thought he was getting better. I guess he just got better at faking it again.”

Faking it? Lance is faking being happy…confident? Keith growls unhappily. How could no one but Hunk have noticed this. Sure, they all knew Lance has moments where he hated on himself, but doesn’t everyone? There’s even days Keith gets angry that he can’t beat a simulator, and thinks he sucks.

“I can tell you’re thinking. I wish you could tell me what it’s about,” Hunk muses, setting a plate of goo on the floor for Keith.

He stares at it for a while, before eating the now lukewarm food goo. When he finishes, he rubs up against Hunks Leg as a thank you, and heads for Lance’s room. He gets up on his hind legs, and places his paw on the door. Apparently even though he’s a cat, the castle can still tell it’s him. He goes into the room, and finds Lance curled up in the middle of his bed, on top of the covers. He’s balled up as small as he can be, and his hands are white knuckled as he grips his hair. Slowly, Keith approaches him, and Manages to fit himself almost all the way around Lance. He may be a bigger cat now, but Lance is tall, and he can’t completely wrap around him. 

He can feel the Blue Paladin shaking, so he purrs, trying to sooth him. Eventually Lance uncurls, rolls over, and buries his face in the cat’s neck. Hiccuping he says, “I’m…s-sorry. I just…I don’t know why I’m so messed up.” He sighs. “I guess it’s even more messed up to confide in an animal. I’m just…I don’t even know.”

Keith purrs louder, hoping he can portray how sorry he is. How much he didn’t realize he sucked as a friend. Carefully pulling away from Lance’s grasps, he licks his cheek. 

“Yuck! Mullet! What the hell?”

Keith grumbles and licks him again.

“Gah! Stop!” Lance chuckles, pushing the cat away. He catches the Red Paladin’s eye and the smile drops off his face. “Don’t give me that look. So you made me laugh…doesn’t mean anything.”

Lance could swear he saw the cat smirk, before he pounces, rubbing it’s cold nose on Lance, and trying to play.

“Oh it’s on! You’re going down Mullet.”

************************************   
Shiro, having heard of Lance’s outburst, came to check on him. When the door slid open, he stood against the frame, smiling as he watches Lance chase a panther sized cat around his small room, giving up when Keith licked him right in the face, from chin to hair. His slobber making Lance’s hair stand up weird. That’s when Lance hears Shiro chuckle, and that’s when a satisfied cat, decides it’s a good time to take a nap right on Lance’s legs, so he’s forced to deal with his slobber covered face and hair later.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone,
> 
> So this is a pretty short chapter. Life has been...crazy. I will try to get a longer more detailed chapter posted next week! Hopefully you still enjoy this!

Another month has gone by. Unable to form Voltron, the team hasn’t done much, except check in with old alliances, to make sure they’re still okay. Currently everyone is in the common room, watching some weird Altean movie. Keith, being bored, prowls around the back of the couch, and pounces on the back of it right behind hunk, swatting at the tails of his headband. Something he did when we was a tiny kitten, but now that he’s panther sized, he ends up hitting the side of hunks head.

The Yellow Paladin complains, making Keith shrink back, with his ears flat against his skull. Lance being observant, like he normally is out in battle, reaches over, and unties hunks headband. Hunk was about to complain again, until Keith’s Ears perked up as Lance started to wiggle the cloth. Crouching down, Keith prepares to pounce, and as he does, Lance move the cloth. 

He keeps trying to get it, and after the fourth attempt, Keith pouches on Lance instead. “Mullet! That’s cheating!”

Keith apologizes by rubbing his head against Lances jaw. The Blue Paladin, scratches Keith’s ears in return, getting the cat to curl up and snuggle with him. Lance wraps his arms around him, burying his face in the fur around Keith’s neck.

Pidge snorts, “You’re going to hate yourself when he’s human again.”

“Why?” Lance asks.

“Because, if he remembers this…you’ll be so embarrassed.”

Feeling a little uneasy, Keith nudges his nose against the faint scar he had given Lance when he had bit him. He didn’t really know what came over him, but after Lance had nuzzled him back, he just had this…urge. He needed to mark him…needed to show that Lance is taken.

“You know,” Coran pipes in, looking over at the scar on Lance’s neck. “That Galra are a species that mark their mates. I wonder if being turned into a cat triggered that in our Red Paladin.”

“That’s nonsense. Keith hasn’t shown any similarities to the Galra, except for blood.” Allura argues.

“That’s my point, Princess. His blood is part Galra. Lance is the only one he’s bitten. The only one he shows affection toward.”

“He snuggled with me and Pidge the other day.” Hunk supplies.

Coran shakes his head, and sighs, “Was it like that?” he points to Keith, who has his head on Lance’s shoulder, and almost a possessive hold on him with his paws.

Lance’s brow furrows, “Do you think…that it’s still…still Keith? Like not just a mindless cat?”

Pidge watches Keith closely, then says, “Keith, come here.”

Hesitantly he gets up, and sits in front of Pidge. 

“We’re going to try something. Put a paw on my right knee for yes, and my left knee for no, understand?”

Keith sets his paw on her right knee.

“That…that could be coincidence. That means nothing.” Lance splutters.

“Keith, do you Piolet the yellow lion?” Pidge asks, knowing he’d have to show he knows what’s going on.

Keith instantly touches a paw to her left knee.

“See! Keith…are you aware of what’s going on?”

Lance freezes when the cat’s paw touches Pidges right knee.

“I don’t know why I never thought of this before.” The Green Paladin exclaims. “Okay, have you been coherent the entire time? Like you know you’re Keith, Red Paladin of Voltron, and who all of us are?”

Keith Lifts his paw, and as soon as it hits Pidges right knee Lance is out of his chair. “So you’ve been you this entire time?”

Another touch is placed on Pidge’s right knee.

Lance pales, and his breathing quickens. “No…no, no, no…I…no.”

“Lance, what’s wrong?” Shiro asks. “This is a good thing.”

“A GOOD THING!” Lance shouts. “It’s good that I spilled the things in my head to him? It’s good that he…oh God…” He trails, suddenly taking off down the hall, needing to get away from everyone, get away from the embarrassment.

Keith is about to chase after him, but Shiro stops him, “Let him be. If there’s one thing I know about Lance, it’s that he likes to be alone.”

Keith growls, that’s the last thing Lance wants. He remembers the taller boy telling him that when he gets upset, he wishes someone would care. You don’t show you care by ignoring the situation. He wishes he could snap back, that the one thing he knows about Lance, is that Lance likes to be held when his thoughts over well him. That he doesn’t want someone to tell him it’s okay, but rather someone who will just listen to him cry or scream. Someone to be there for him…someone…like Keith.

“Shiro, it’s not a good idea to stand in the way of a Galra and their mate,” Allura’s concerned voice cuts through the tension.

“He’s not Galra!” Shiro argues, his Galra tech hand flexing.

“We do not know how much Galra blood runs through him, but it’s obvious what Haggar did, brought out his inner instincts. He may not be full Galra, but…he chose Lance.”

“So you’re saying, because Keith maybe likes Lance, that they’re now mates?” Hunk asks.

“Ah, you see, it goes much deeper than infatuation. For Galra, only their best match can trigger their desire to bond.” Coran informs them.

Getting impatient, Keith growls again, the fur on the back of his neck rising, until Shiro sighs, and finally moves. The cat sprints down the corridors, and skids to a stop in front of Lance’s room. He gets on his hind legs, putting a paw on the sensor. The door slides open, and he finds Lance, not even on his bed. Instead the Blue Paladin is sitting on the floor with his back against it. He has his knees pulled up, with his forehead against them. His hands are interlocked behind his neck. He’s murmuring under his breath. 

Keith slowly comes closer, and lays on the floor in front of Lance. He sets his head on Lances feet, letting him know he’s there. “G-Go away.”

Keith doesn’t move.

Lance lifts his head, angry tears streaking his face, and raises his voice. “GO. AWAY!”

Keith doesn’t even flinch.

“P-please…just…leave me alone.”

Using his snout, Keith manages to pry Lance’s legs apart, and nudges his head against the Blue Paladin’s stomach. It doesn’t last long though because Lance shoves his head away, and gets up.

“I-I can’t believe you! You…you…freaking marked me! Then…then! I find out…you’re you! Y-you watched me shower! You…you watched me…ugh! I can’t believe you! I’ve never…never…” he starts to crumble, his legs giving out first, and once he’s on the ground again he bends over, each sob shaking his entire body.

Keith curls around him, his head next to Lance’s. He lets out a low, calming rumble, trying to comfort the distressed Paladin.

“I-I hate th-that you found out this way. I-I hate that…that you w-watched me. That you marked me. That I don’t want you to actually leave.”

Lance slowly unfolds, and curls up with Keith. He grips onto the Red Paladin’s fur, tucking his head under Keith’s chin. Keith continues to rumble softly, knowing now more than ever they will need to talk when he’s human again. But right now…right now he’s going to hold Lance the best he can. Keep him close and show him how much he cares.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Here's this weeks update! 
> 
> Just so you know, I've been in a mood for a few weeks, so this chapter is a little...angsty...still, because I just need some type of release even if it's not about things actually happening in my life, it still helps get rid of some of the...blah feelings I cant seem to shake.

After a few hours, Lance got up, and laid in his bed. Keith went to join him, but Lance snapped at him, telling him to leave. Keith had made his way to the common room, where everyone was still sitting, trying to relax. When Keith enters the room, Shiro asks, “How is he?”

The cat plops down onto the floor. His back to the other Paladins. “I think…I’m going to go check on him.” Hunk says as he gets up from one of the couches. 

Pidge on the other hand, gets down onto the floor, and hesitantly scratches at Keith’s ears, “Why didn’t you try to communicate before?” Keith huffs, so she rephrases, “Could you communicate? Yes blink twice, no blink once.”

Keith blinks once.

“Did you try?”

He blinks twice.

Pidge thinks for a while then exclaims, “Going on missions! Not letting Lance leave you behind. Why else would a cat want to go on a freaking mission! I’m such an idiot, I should have seen it sooner. Uh, sorry I guess for the laser.”

Keith nudges his head against her hand, in an understanding. 

“Are you tired of being a cat?” Shiro asks.

Keith, blinks twice, and whines.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t figure out what Haggar did to you.” Coran pipes in, from his seat next to Allura. He ponders for a moment, then asks, “Did you understand what I said about the Galra and mating?”

Keith blinks twice.

“Did you mean to mark Lance?” Shiro’s eyes are trained on Keith, watching carefully for his response.

There’s a soft purr, and two blinks.

“Do…do you love him?”

Again, two blinks.

“Since when?” Pidge yells, making Keith jump, “Didn’t you just hate him a few months ago.”

Sighing, Keith closes his eyes and opens them once. He’s never hated Lance. Sure at first he was annoying, but then…then somewhere along the lines it turned endearing, and then…then Keith would get so, so jealous when Lance would flirt with any Alien he passed by who he thought was a girl. Which also sucked, because Keith was sure Lance was as straight as they come…until the day he…he got off thinking about Keith. He never thought he had a chance, thought he would be pining forever, until his heart shattered the day Lance found a nice Alien girl, like Hunk did.

“Shit—” Pidge starts.

“Language!” Shiro scolds.

“Sorry, but…Keith’s crying, and…it’s freaking me out. I’m not sure what’s worse. That a cat is crying…or that I’s Keith.”

Keith whimpers, when Allura drops to the floor, and lifts his head onto her lap. “Shh, it’s okay. Soon you’ll be human…mostly human again. Then you can talk to him. Explain everything.”

Keith looks up at her, and blinks once. No, he can’t. He’s done his research, he knew about the whole mate thing before anyone mentioned it. As soon as he found out he was Galra, he dug through some Altean books, and eventually computers. He had Coran find him information on Galra’s, and use a special system Pidge made to translate it. He knew when he bit Lance. He knew that once a mate was chosen…that there was no turning back. He knows that if Lance rejects him the pain could and would probably kill him.

“What’s wrong with him?” Shiro asks, sitting next to Allura, his Galra arm around her, and his human hand gently wiping away the tears that just won’t stop.

“He…chose Lance. If…if Lance doesn’t…ah…return his feelings, well…lets just say, Galra may seem heartless, and ruthless, but when it comes to their mates…they’re compassionate, loving…connected. By choosing a mate that may not choose them in return can be as painful as…I’m not sure I know a human equivalent for it.”

“Would it be like someone close to you dying?” Pidge asks, adjusting her glasses.

“On the emotional level, probably like multiple people close to you dying, but…there’s a physical pain too.” Coran supplies, his normal quirkiness replaced with…concern.

They’re quite for a while, all trying to comfort Keith in some way, who’s tears have stopped, but the low whine still fills the room. They startle when Hunk grabs Keith by the scruff behind his neck, yanking him up. “You and I are going to talk. Now. Well, you’ll listen, but you get the point! Everyone else…get out.”

“Hunk!” Shiro springs up, his hand ontop of the Yellow Paladin’s. “What are you doing?”

“I think Keith knows what I’m going to say, and I’m sure he and Lance would rather you all not be apart of this. Lance…is my best friend. Sure, I might seem scared some…most of the time, or as the nice guy, but right now. Right now, Lance needs someone to not be the nice guy. I won’t hurt him. I know you can trust me that much.”

Shiro lets go, and gestures for the others to leave the room. Once they’re gone Hunk let’s go of Keith, and the cat hangs his head, he knows exactly what this is about.

“I’m going to be straight with you. Lance…is hurt. He didn’t go into much details, but it seems on more than one occasion you’ve seen more of Lance than any of us…than anyone.”

Slowly, Keith raises his head, a little confused. Lance is in his twenty’s now…which means he was at least sixteen when they left Earth. Surely, he had some…experience with girls.

“Sure Lance flirts a lot, but…but you should know by now that it’s a cover. He’s a pretty anxious person, and he uses the facade of a Ladies man to look confident. He’s…he’s really upset because he feels…exposed, I guess you could say. Maybe even a little betrayed. You didn’t even think about how he would feel once he found out you’re in the right mindset, that you’re not just a cat, but you are you! You didn’t care that he was oblivious to the fact that you were actually watching him shower. Do you know how sketchy that seems? How violating that must feel? Now that I’m sure you know, I can tell you that Lance has had the biggest, gushiest crush on you since the Garrison. He’s mortified that, that you just…ugh!” Hunk yells, angry that Keith would do such a thing.

Keith’s heart clenches, he didn’t mean to hurt Lance like that…to…violate him. He, just…was curious. He...is such a terrible person. Lying on his stomach Keith whines again, fresh tears soaking his fur. He knows Lance will reject him now. He knows he screwed up, but that’s nothing new for him is it? That’s all he could manage to do. All he ever does is drive the people he cares about away. 

“Keith…” Hunk breathes. “Oh Keith, don’t cry. J-just because Lance is upset, doesn’t mean he hates you. He even said himself that he wishes you’d just crawl into bed next to him and forget that he told you to leave him alone. Then he went on about how messed up that is, but honestly…I think you both just need each other right now. He said something about the spot where you bit was burning too. I’m guessing that has to do with your Galra-ness.”

Keith perks up, Lance’s scar hurts...which means…means he has a chance. He bolts from the room, and makes it to Lance’s in record time. Entering, as calmly as he can, he hops onto the bed, where Lance is buried under the blankets, just his face sticking out. His skin is blotchy, probably from crying, and he’s staring at the wall.

“I wondered how long it would take for you to come back after Hunk talked to you. But then again, I’m sure he told you I wanted you to.” Lance croaks. 

Keith lays down behind Lance, not wanting to push too much.

After a moment, Lance turns over, and gently pets Keith. “I’m so mad at you right now.”

Keith mews, trying to portray how sorry he is.

Lance’s hand moves to scratch at Keith’s jaw, but then suddenly stops, “Your fur…is damp.” He runs his thumb along the dampness and frowns, “You…cried?”

Keith nuzzles into Lance’s hand.

“You…Keith Kogane…cried, because…because of me?”

Keith blinks twice, never breaking eye contact. 

“Oh…I…w-why?” Lance waits for an answer then remembers, “O-oh yeah, you…you can’t ans—”

He’s cut off when Keith nudges his nose against the scar on Lance’s neck, and mews in such a way it sounds…painful.

Lance pulls Keith against his chest, and sighs, “Y-you’re an idiot you know that?”

Keith purrs, content being in Lance’s arms, and thinks, “Yeah…I do.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey,
> 
> So I just worked 20 of the last 24 hours, and I'm beat. I didn't want to miss a week, but his is the shortest little filler chapter ever, and I hope it's not too much of a teaser.

Another week had passed, and Keith found himself to be extremely board. Lance didn’t pay him as much attention, still dealing with all of this on his own, because Keith still couldn’t communicate with him. Surprisingly, though, he never kicked the Red Paladin out of his room. Never said no to him sitting on the couch next to him, and never said he couldn’t ride with him in Blue. 

Right now, the two of them are lying in Lances bed, getting ready to sleep, until Lance starts to sniffle. Keith nudged him with his damp nose, and Lance sighs, “I just want to talk to you. B-Before you became a stupid cat, you hated me, and now…now all of a sudden…we’re…mates.” The word came out of his mouth like bile, and Keith whined. He’d be a fool to believe Lance would ever want him. “I guess, it would have been nice to have some sort of choice, but now you’re stuck with me.”

Keith tilts his head, why would Lance believe Keith is stuck with him? Why not the other way around? Isn’t that’s what most people without much of a choice would think. Keith mews, getting Lance to look at him, the bumps his head against Lances jaw, nuzzling in a comforting way.

Lance hums, scratching behind Keith’s hair. He’s not sure why, but when Keith does that, it feels…calming. It feels like he knows Keith isn’t going to go anywhere. Yet, he knows that Keith is stuck with him because he can’t leave Lance. Once he comes to his full senses and realizes he marked Lance, realizes they’re mates, because Galra have weird traditions, or whatever they want to call it. Then he’ll see that he’s stuck with Lance, because the pain would be too much to leave. Keith would be forced to spend his life with Lance, because everyone knows, even if Lance didn’t care about the boy, that he wouldn’t do anything to harm him. With his chin on Keith’s head, Lance squeezes him tight, not wanting him to see his tears. Eventually he falls asleep, with Keith tightly tucked away in his arms.

Next thing he realizes, he’s on his back, gawking at Keith’s head which is on his chest. Keith’s bare shoulder, which leads to his bare arm that is stretched over Lance’s stomach. His eyes catch the two black, still furry, ears poking out of Keith’s mullet, and can feel Keith’s tail, wrapped around his leg. 

“K-Keith?”

“Hmm?” His voice is hoarse, from lack of use.

“K-Keith…you’re a…a freaking cat boy.”

“Lance, I really wish I could tell you to shut up so I could go back to sleep.”

“You just did.”

Keith finally opens his eyes and stares at his arm, “Lance…Lance! I’m…”

“Yeah, you’re mostly back to normal. I uh, should go tell the others. You probably would like a proper shower huh?” Lance needs to get far away from Keith, needs to let his head clear. Now that Keith could talk, they could communicate.

“W-wait. We should talk.”

Lance scratches behind Keith’s still furry ear and nods, “Yeah, I know…I just….not now.”

Keith purrs, surprising himself, and remembering that Lance called him a cat boy. So he knows not all of him is back to normal. “When?”

“Later. Now, you shower, and I’ll tell the others.”

Keith nods, sitting up, the blankets falling to his waist. 

Lance gulps, “A-are you naked?”

Keith blushes the cutest shade of red, “P-probably.”

Lance’s blush starts to match him, and when he tries to hurry to get out of the bed, to give Keith some privacy, his foot gets caught, bringing the blankets to the floor. And sending Lance tumbling forward, but Keith snags his arm, pulling his bare back, because he likes to sleep without a shirt somethings, to Keith’s bare chest. “Are you okay?” Keith asks, his breath tickling Lance’s ear.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine.”

“Lance?” Keith asks, sending a shiver down Lances spine.

“Y-yeah.”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

Keith’s hand comes up to the scar on his neck. “I-I should have held off until I was me again. Should have talked to you about it, but when I uh…heard that you think of me sometimes, when…you know. I had to…had to make sure you were mine.”

Lance gasped, his eyes flying open. Panting, with a racing heart, he looks down at Keith. It was just a dream…Keith is still a cat…not naked…and not saying things like that. Running a hand down his face, Lance sighs as he carefully gets up, and heads to the bathroom. It doesn’t take long for him to relieve himself from the pressure that was building in his pajama pants, and he’ll never admit how he whined Keith’s name, imagining Keith touching him in ways he’s never been touched by another person before.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!
> 
> Surprise one day early post!! I'll be busy all day tomorrow, but figured I'd still post! 
> 
> TBH this story just took a turn I wasn't even expecting, so it's going to turn out longer than I intended...but yay?
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

After that dream, Lance couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t stop watching Keith, waiting for his fur to disappear, and his body reform into a person. Lance is sure it will hurt, but hopes that maybe it won’t. Maybe Keith will morph back in his sleep and not feel a thing. He carefully touches Keith’s snout, letting his fingers stroke up between his eyes, and over the top of his head. After a few times, he sighs, rubbing his own eyes, “I should be so angry with you. So hurt, and frustrated, but…I’m not, which is irritating. Like how can I not be! Like I’m not even sure I can trust you now…I-I want to, but…you didn’t even try to tell me…or…or maybe you did and I’m just too…too stupid, like always, to notice.”

Lance groans, and Keith grumbles, his head nudging Lance’s, right under his chin. His entire body stretches, and he leans up so he can look down at the Blue Paladin. He tilts his head curiously, wondering what he was blabbering about that woke him. He can almost feel the self-doubt radiating off of Lance. He always gets this…distant look in his eyes, where the blue orbs shine a little less brightly.

Getting tired of the cat staring down at him, Lance pushes his face away, “Go back to sleep.”

Lance moves to get up, but Keith pounces on him, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

“Oh no, we are not playing…not that I know you’re you inside that head. That had to be a more embarrassing moment for me.”

Keith snorts, thinking, “More embarrassing than jacking off with my name on your tongue.” So he pounces again, licking the side of Lance’s face.

“Yuck! Stop it!”

But Keith doesn’t. He jumps from side to side on the bed, making Lance bounce around, and effectively getting the beautiful boy to laugh.

“Okay! Okay! Stop now. It’s the middle of the night, we should be sleeping.” Lance pants, catching his breath.

Yawning the Red Paladin gets comfortable again. He waits for Lance to snuggle up next to him, but he doesn’t. Instead, Lance turns his back to Keith, throwing a goodnight over his shoulder, and going to sleep. Keith gapes at the back of his head. They just had fun. He just made the idiot smile. Why is he turning his back on him now? 

Confused, and a bit stubborn, Keith doesn’t let Lance act this way. Instead he scoots up right behind him, his chest against Lance’s back. He wishes it was his actually chest, not the fur covered, curved one of the cat he was turned into. Just to get to Lance more, he licks the back of his neck, but gets a much different reaction than he thought he would. He assumed Lance would be disgusted, and gripe about it, but instead, he got a deep, low, groan from him. Along with a small shiver. He’ll have to store away the fact that Lance’s neck is sensitive for if he ever turns back into a human. He gets comfortable and lets sleep consume him once more.

They’re both jolted away with blaring alarms, but Allura’s voice calms them, “Sorry about that Paladin’s. Coran was working on fixing up part of our Castle’s mainframe, and set off the alarm. There is no need to get up.”

Lance puts a hand against his heart, trying to get it to stop racing from the sudden awakening. He’s about to close his eyes again, but startles once more when Keith snores. He laughs, wondering how little sleep he’s been getting as a nocturnal animal. Keith must have passed back out right when Allura has given the all clear. He turns to face Keith, and screams, much more manly than anyone who might have heard him would say. Scurrying he falls out of bed, onto his butt.

Keith sits, and much like the dream he had, the blanket slips down his bare chest and pools at his waist. “Nope…nope…nope. Wake up any time now.” Lance says, rubbing at his eyes.

Intertwined in his messy mop of black hair, Keith has furry ears sticking through it. Lance can feel his cheeks redden as Keith starts to come to his senses.

He’s staring at his hands, slowly running them down his chest, and once they’re to the blanket he lifts it up, then flops back onto the bed. “Im back!! Lance!” He shrieks, excited to tell the Blue Paladin. “Lance?” Sitting back up he looks around and raises an eyebrow. “Why are you on the floor?”

With a shaking hand Lance points to Keith’s head. The Red Paladin reaches up, and gasps when he touches the ears perched toward the top. “Damn it!” Then he lifts the sheet again and groans, “You have got to be kidding me.”

“Y-you okay?”

“I have cat ears and tail…do you think I’m okay?”

“N-not really. Do you…like need a hug or uh something?”

Keith stares at Lance and laughs, “Why are you being so weird?”

“Me being weird? I’m not weird? You’re the weird one…catboy.”

“Don’t make me pounce on you again.”

“You wouldn’t dare. Your reflexes are normal again. You wouldn’t be---hmpf.”

Lance is cut off when Keith tackles him right there on the floor. They wrestle, and Lance thanks God that Keith at least wrapped the blanket around his waist. The continue to roll around on the ground until Lance is pinned underneath Keith. His wrist held in a tight grip above his head, and his chest heaving from the friendly fight. He would have been fine, would have survived this moment, but then Keith. Stupid mullet wearing Keith, decides to lean down and whisper right into his ear, “I’d say my reflexes are pretty good.”

Lance’s breath catches, and his heart stops. Then just as he thinks Keith is about to pull back, he leans forward instead, pulling the lobe of Lance’s ear between his teeth. His hips buck up on their own accord, causing Keith to groan. 

“Lance…you shouldn’t do that.”

“Says the one biting my ear.”

Keith pulls back just a little, staring down at the Blue Paladin. His eyes flicker down to Lance’s lips, and before he can even decide what to do, he smashes their mouths together. Lance gasps, surprised, but kisses back. When Keith runs his tongue against Lance’s lips, to ask for entrance, Lance pulls away.

“Sh-shouldn’t we talk…yeah…we uh…we need to talk…about things.”

“You’re right.” Keith agrees, getting up, holding his hand out to help Lance up, but all Lance can do is stare. “What’s wrong?”

“You, uh…your missing…something.”

Keith looks down, finally noticing that the blanket once covering himself is bunched up on the floor by his feet now. Embarrassed he yanks the blanket up, and coughs, “I should probably shower, and uh get dressed. Then we…we can talk. Okay!”

Lance nods, his face flushed. Little did he know that getting to talk to Keith, wouldn’t come as soon as he hoped. Instead the days dragged on, and Lance barely even saw the Red Paladin. Between training, attacks, medical tests, and Keith getting drug away from the others, there was no time for Lance. Not that he’s surprised. Why would Keith still want to hang around him when he didn’t need too?

After four days, Lance started to withdraw form everyone. His neck, where the bite mark from Keith was starting to ache. He felt…empty somehow…well more empty than normal. More isolated than normal. More worthless than normal. Why was Keith avoiding him? Why didn’t he want to talk like he said he would? Nor that he’s a human again, he must realize the horrible mistake he had made.

Lance had made his way to the observation deck, a blanket dragging along the floor behind him, and he makes himself kind of comfortable where he can bundle up and look out at the stars. Pulling his knees up to his chest, a sudden sadness washes over him and a few tears slip over his cheek bones.

He’s too caught up in his sorrow, and doesn’t hear the footsteps coming into the room. He doesn’t feel the presence next to him, and doesn’t even flinch when an arm is draped over his shoulder and he’s pulled against a muscular chest. “Lance…” Keith whispers. “What’s wrong?”

“N-nothing.” Lance sniffles, pushing away from Keith. “W-why would you care anyway?”

“Lance?”

“What?”

“Talk to me.”

“Why? You haven’t had time for me in days! DAYS! You said we would talk! You…you bit me…you…saw me…but then…you lied to me. I thought…I thought the mark meant something to you, but that was stupid of me to believe. Why would anyone, especially the stupid mullet head I’ve been crushing on, want to be with me?” Lance pushes himself up, and heads for the door.

“Lance…wait.” Keith calls after him.

“That’s all I’ve ever been doing. I’m done waiting.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!!
> 
> So I was able to get some early writing time in! Plus I have a super full day on Tuesday, so here's the next chapter super early!

“SHIRO!” Keith yells through the castle halls, trying to find their leader.

Finally a confused Shiro steps out of his room, and flinches back at the glare from Keith.

“You!” He jabs his finger into Shiro’s chest. “You said to give him space! To, to let him come to me! Then! Then I get pulled around by everyone else to give me the, ‘don’t hurt Lance speech.” Glaring up at the Black Paladin he growls, “Well guess what? He’s hurt and it’s not even my fault! I should have never listened to any of you! I…I have instincts. I know I should have never left his side! But no! No I was stupid and I listened to you! Now you’re going to fix this! Because he won’t quit avoiding me! Because he thinks I was avoiding him! If…if I lose him before I get the chance to tell him how I really feel…I will never forgive any of you! Because even if I wanted to forgive you…the chances are high that the broken bond will kill me!”

“Keith, calm down. I’m sure we can convince Lance to talk to you. Just…just let me go find him.” Shiro pats Keith on the shoulder as he walks away and sighs, “For what it’s worth…I’m sorry.”

**************************************

Lance hasn’t left his room again for days. Anytime he moves he feels like an electric shock runs through his body, and the source is the damn scar on his neck. He swears sometimes he can almost feel a sadness that’s not his, and his mind tries to tell him it’s Keith’s, but that’s just crazy. It’s not like they’re that connected now. Lance isn’t Galra. Humans don’t “mate” or “bond.” He’s not stupid though, he’s heard of secondary genders, of Alpha, Beta, and Omega. Sure, it’s not a human thing, but it’s a thing.

Curious, he grits his teeth as the shock runs through his body when he gets up, and he drags his feet to the control room. Allura is looking over maps of the galaxy, when she notices Lance. “I was beginning to think you’d never leave that tiny room of yours.”

“Didn’t want to, but… I have questions.”

“Oh,” she takes down the holographic maps, “What might those be?”

“Do Galra have, Alpha, Beta, and Omega’s?”

“Not quite, but they do mate for life. They can mate with whoever they please. It doesn’t have to be so specifically done like most species that fall into the Alpha, Beta, Omega category. Galra are much like us Altean’s. We also bond for life, but we don’t actually bite our companion.”

“Oh…okay. Um…humans don’t bond…so how…how does this apply to me? Like, it hurts, and, and I swear I’m feeling his feelings, and I don’t know how to deal with this.”

“That is…odd. Normally if an Altean bonds with someone who doesn’t do the same, the effects are lessened. Keith was also struggling for a bit, when he was still a full cat. I’m not sure why I didn’t see it before, but normally if the partner doesn’t need to bond, the pain for him would be a great deal less.” She thinks for a moment before grabbing Lance’s wrist, “Come with me.”

“Not like I have much of a choice with you dragging me around, Princess.” 

“Coran!” Allura greets as they enter the area with the healing pods. “I need you to run a DNA scan on Lance.”

“Why?” Coran asks putting down the rag he was using.

“I think…I think Lance isn’t entirely Human.”

“What?” Lance shrieks. “Why would you think something crazy like that?”

“Because the mark from Keith is affecting you more than it should.”

Still curious, Lance steps into the pod, once it closes, his eyes start to droop, and the last thing he sees is a frantic Keith, who sprints up to the pod. he can feel his fear, his worry, and it almost comforts him that Keith cares enough to worry. Yet, it brings a pang of pain to his heart…knowing that it doesn’t matter.

********************************************

When the pod opens up, Lance fall into someone’s arms. The warm, cinnamon scent, calms him and he hums. “Hey Sharpshooter.” Keith whispers. “Are you hungry?”

Coming to my senses again, I push away from him. I don’t want to get attached. I can’t get attached any more than he already is. He looks around and notices everyone is there. Remembering why he was in the pod in the first place, he turns to Allura, “So?”

There’s a sparkle in her eyes, and she turns to Coran, who puffs his chest out, “Lance my boy….you’re part Altean.”

The room goes silent, and Lance gawks, “I’m what now?”

“The percentage isn’t high, but it’s there. Some of the escape pods must have gotten away. How they made it all the way to earth…I’ll never know. But Blue did, so there’s a possibility that other’s did too. There could be even more Altean’s than we know of!”

“Holy shit…” Pidge adds, the shock finally wearing off.

“Why did you guys test his DNA again?” Shiro asks, his arms crossed, concern on his face.

“Oh right! So Lance here, was being affected by the mark Keith left, more than a normal human or species who don’t bond would. So I had a theory. I never expected he was part Altean, but…oh this is fabulous.”

“What does he being Altean have to do with bonding?” Hunk asks, his brow furrowed.

“Ah, see, we Altean’s bond too. We just don’t…get so animalistic. There’s no biting involved like with Galra. Yet, must like the Galra, we bond for life. No one will spark our interest until the one we are meant to be bonded with comes into our lives.” Allura answers, her eyes drifting to Shiro.

Lance catches it, but doesn’t say anything, he doesn’t feel like himself right now. Otherwise he’d be all over that look and giving Shiro a hard time for it. “So I don’t get a choice.”

“Well with how little Altean blood is in you…I’d day you probably would have…have you had romantic feelings for anyone aside from Keith before?”

“Yeah. I’ve dated a few people even.”

Coran hums, twisting his mustache, “I bet Keith choosing to Bond with you, and his mate mark set off your bonding instincts too. You must care very deeply for him in order for that to happen, but because he chose you, and you had the underlining feelings…you know the rest.”

Keith touches his shoulder, wanting to get his attention, but Lance shakes it off, “Don’t. I told you, I’m done. You already made it clear how much you supposedly care about me.”  
Lance starts to storm off, but Shiro grabs the crook of his arm. “Lance, stop. Listen to me for a second, okay?”

“Fine.”

“Keith wasn’t avoiding you. He took some advice…some bad advice from me. I told him to let you go to him. To let you have time to process everything. It’s my fault he hadn’t talked to you. Not to mention each of us kept dragging him away to tell him repeatedly not to hurt you…and in the process…we…we made him hurt you.”

Yanking his arm away Lance scoffs, “You’d say anything to protect your precious Keith.” Then he turns to the Red Paladin. “If that’s true, and you actually care…you’ll know where to find me then.”

With that he leaves, wishing he could slam a door. Numbly, he makes his way to the observation deck. His favorite spot on the ship. He sits alone for a lot longer than he would have liked. He keeps thinking about how some of his blood…is Altean. How no matter how little, he’s…an alien. He’s from an almost extinct race. Not to mention being Altean now means he’s even more connected to Keith through the stupid bond thing.

He sighs, about to get up and go, because clearly Keith isn’t coming, but stops moving when he sees Keith coming through the door with multiple blankets and pillows. “Hey…” He whispers. “I remember how you like to sit in here for a long time. So I, uh…figured maybe we could make a comfy spot to relax in. I uh, have more stuff lined up, but I could only carry so much at once, so…Shiro has the rest, but he’s waiting outside the door. He’s not sure how upset you might be with him.”

“Shiro, you can bring the stuff in.” Lance yells, and the door slides open again. Lance can’t contain his chuckle when he sees Shiro with at least three blankets hung over his shoulders, and a mound of pillows in his arms. He drops them near Lance and ruffles the Blue Paladin’s hair before leaving.

The air is thick with awkwardness, until Keith clears his throat, “Should we ah, get our stuff set up?”

Lance nods, and picks up one of the bigger looking blankets. He lays it out flat, then lines one side with pillows. Out of the corner of his eye he sees Keith setting a blanket and pillow aside. “What are you doing?”

“Oh, I uh…making a spot for myself?”

“Oh…you don’t want to…I mean…of course not. I was just being stupid.” Lance mumbles picking up some of the pillows to hand them to Keith. “Here.”

“Wait, what were you going to say?”

Running a hand down his face Lance groans. “Maybe it’s the stupid bond, but…I thought you might want to lay with me, but that was stupid of me to think.”

“NO! I uh, mean…no, it wasn’t stupid. I would love to lay with you, I just…wasn’t sure you would want me to.”

“Well, maybe I’m just too tired to fight it, but yeah…I want you to.”

Keith smiles, the brightest Lance thinks he’s ever seen. “Great!”

They spend a few minutes getting their makeshift bed put together, and Keith lays down first. Lance hesitates for a moment, but lays on his side facing Keith. “I can’t believe you have ears and a tail still.”

“It’s better than being a cat.”

“I suppose that’s true.” He stares at Keith’s ears and smirks, “I wonder…” Then he reaches up and scratches behind them.

Keith’s eyes fall shut and a low purr rumbles out of his chest. Lance smiles, a bit satisfied that he can hold this over Keith. He stops petting him once his arm gets tired and rolls onto his back. The entire observation deck is open, so they can see the stars even through the roof. “Ya know, it’s so quite here.” Lance comments.

“I’m used to quite. My shack was never very loud.”

“My house was so loud, ALL the time. Between the music, and the kids, and the dog, it was always so…alive. I miss it so much.”

“What’s your mother like?” Keith asks, his fingers finding Lance’s and interlocking with them.

“Wonderful. She’s the nicest women you’ll ever meet, but she can whip anyone into shape too. If I ever did anything bad, I feared her more than my dad. He is much more stoic, and very, very quite. I’m not sure how he handles all the noise. You two would probably get along.”

“I hope so.”

“That’s if, uh, you want to meet them.”

“Of course I do.” Picking up Lance’s hand, Keith draws random patters into it with the tip of his finger, “I may have bit you out of instinct while I was a cat, but it wasn’t an empty bond. I couldn’t control my feelings. I couldn’t hold back. I’ve been crazy about you for a while now…much longer than you would probably expect, but I suck with talking about my feelings, like here…” he presses lances hand to his chest, “Feel how crazy my heart is pounding right now. I’m so nervous right now. You always make me so nervous because I don’t want to look bad in front of you.”

Lance spreads his fingers out over Keith’s chest, becoming more content the longer they lay there. His scar has stop sending jolts of pain through him, and his heart is beating just as fast as Keith’s. He looks over at him, noticing Keith’s eyes on him. His own eyes drift to the Red Paladin’s lips, longing to feel them against his again. Then, like Keith can read his mind, he turn onto his side, props himself up, leaning against his elbow, and gently caresses Lance’s face.

“Can I kiss you.”

He nods before breathing, “Yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize if there are any mistakes. I suck at editing my own stuff, and don't have a beta reader.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the shortest chapter ever, but our power had gone out for a while and I really wanted to get something posted. Plus I wanted to get the Lance Insecurities talk out of the way so we can get the heat on the slow burn turned up a little.

They sat in the observation deck most of the night. Some of it spent kissing, some spent in silence just gazing out into space. As Lance absentmindedly strokes Keith’s cat ears, Keith hums, “You know…we should talk.”

“Yeah, we should…” Lance pauses and crosses his arms, “Is this where you tell me you’re going to go do something then not return again?”

“No. This is where I tell you that all those things you’ve said about yourself. About being the seventh wheel. About not being good enough. About…just about all the negative things…are wrong. So wrong.”

“Pfft.”

“I’m serious. Lance you’re so…so wonderful. Sure, at first I thought you were just an annoying mess, but…but the longer we were out here, the more I saw you.” Keith runs a hand through his hair, and Lance can feel himself tearing up. 

“There’s not much to see.” Lance croaks.

“Yeah there is. There’s your humor. God, you’re so funny. I know I always seem annoyed, but…I didn’t want you to know how much you made me want to burst out laughing. If you hadn’t noticed I don’t smile all that often, but around you…I want to smile all the time. I just thought you hated me so I didn’t want you to get weird around me.”

“I thought you hated me too.”

“Never. I’ve always thought you’re beautiful Lance. From your sun kissed skin, your ocean blue eyes, to your quirky personality. Lance, I…I love you. I have for a while, and I don’t want you to think you need to say it back, I needed you to know though. Because I need you to realize how great you are. It broke my heart every time you would talk down about yourself, and all I wanted to do was convince you that you’re perfect just as you are. So, promise me. Any time you’re feeling the weight of your insecurities holding you down, that you’ll tell me, so I can help.”

Lance broke, his tears streamed down his cheeks, and he hiccuped, “I-I don’t know what to say. I…I think I might love you too, but…I’m really confused, because we’re…bonded…I’m Altean, or at least a little part of it. Both of our…species…bond for life…for life Keith…that’s like…forever. What if you change your mind? What if…what if this doesn’t work?”

Keith scoops Lance’s hand into his and sighs, “I wish we would have bonded a different way. I wish…I wish I would have courted you first, done it proper…what? Don’t give me that look? I’ve been researching my Galra heritage. I’m apparently an Alpha? Or at least it seems that way. Obviously with my human side, I won’t go flow blown Alpha because, well…I’m just not built like they are. It’s more like my instincts. They’re to fight and protect the people I care about…the person I’m bonded with. That’s why I got so angry when I was a cat, because I couldn’t protect you the way I wanted to…needed to.”

Lance looks at Keith through his Lashes, and wipes his eyes, “We…we could always start courting now. Even though the bond is there, we could…start over, start fresh.”

“I’d like that…and to do that, I need to apologize. When you were…you know…I should have left the room, or looked away at least. I’m sorry again if I made you feel violated.”  
Blushing Lance sighs, “It’s okay. I just…I don’t know how I felt. No one has ever seen that much of me. You were my first kiss too. I know I talk a big game, but…no one ever took the bait.”

Keith lets out a low rumble, surprising himself and Lance. “Uh…apparently I like that I’m your first kiss…” He rubs the back of his neck. “See…protective of what’s mine…I uh mean, what I care about.”

“It’s okay.” Lance chuckles, “I sort of am yours. We just skipped the first date.”

“Well, lets fix that. We’ll go to bed, and I’ll plan something for us to do tomorrow night. Okay?”

Lance smiles, “Okay.”

They head to their rooms, and Keith stops outside of Lance’s. “So, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Y-yeah.” Lance stutters, leaning forward and placing a gentle kiss on Keith’s cheek bone. “Goodnight.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone,
> 
> just another short chapter....I almost didn't even post this week because life has been dragging me down, but didn't want to disappoint anyone.

To say Lance was jittery all day is an understatement. With the nerves and excitement of what their first date is going to be like, it made it hard for him to focus on any of their training for the day. He kept sneaking glances at Keith, only to blush when he’d see him swishing his tail, or scratching at his ears. It was the worst when he noticed Keith staring back at him. It made him feel like a teen all over again. Maybe it’s from lack of relationship availability while spending years in space, or maybe it’s because he’s always desired Keith and is finally getting his attention.

After lunch, Lance ventured through the castle to find Coran, “Hey Tio.”

“Hmm, what can I do for you my boy?” Coran asks, his nose in a book, “And what is it you just called me?”

“Oh, uh…it means Uncle…I guess I don’t know if we’re actually related or anything but since Altean’s are few and far in-between…I just…never mind, forget it.”

“No, no. I’m honored that you chose to view me that way. Now, was there anything in particular you needed?”

“Yeah…how do Altean’s do this bonding thing…like how does it work?”

Coran twirls his mustache between his finger and thumb. “Well it normally starts with a suitor asking for permission to court them. Since neither of you are accustomed to that, and have no one here to ask, that I suppose is unnecessary. The next step would be chaperoned dates. The suitor, depending on species, would prove their worth over time. Galra have a tendency to show that they can provide and protect, especially the alpha’s. Galra omegas were rarely suitors, because they were so sought out that they were always the ones being courted. I have seen a few in my time though, and they would try to prove that they would be good caregivers, and willing to submit only to the one they want to bond with. Keith, as we’ve figured out is an alpha, or at least has those instincts.”

“Well, we probably won’t have chaperoned dates, because…weird. How would I show him those things if having a secondary gender isn’t apart of any of my heritage?”

“Well, there’s already something about you that drew Keith in. I would say, just be yourself. Don’t focus so much on his instincts, which I’m sure will die down once we get whatever Haggar did to reverse or when it fades on it’s own.”

Lance nods, “Thanks Coran.”

“You’re welcome my boy. Now go, have fun with Keith.”

Smiling Lance hurries through the castle again, just to stop dead in his tracks in front of his room. There’s a single flower, almost rose like, but not quite attached to his door with a note. Carefully he takes it down and reads;  
***********************************************  
Lance, 

This is the first of many…  
Look to your left and follow the flowers.

-Keith  
*****************************************  
Feeling a bit more giddy, Lance quickly follows the flowers, picking each one up until he has eleven in his hands. The last note told him to go to the dining hall, and when he got there he saw Keith standing in front of the table holding a flower. He reaches out to take it, and Keith smiles, “I had a feeling you’d like flowers.”

“Lucky guess. Where did you get them anyway?"

He shrugs one shoulder, “I may have taken Red on an errand to the closest space mall.” Then he turns and gestures toward the table. It’s set up for just the two of them, one plate at the head and the other right beside it. Keith pulls the chair at the head of the table out and Lance sits. 

The Blue Paladin jumps when Hunk comes out of nowhere setting a plate of food goo, and other assortments between them. “Your appetizer.” He said in a terrible French accent before exiting again.

“As much as I would have loved to prepare the food myself, I thought it would be better if we actually got to eat something.”

“That’s sweet though. Hunk loves cooking. You probably made his day.”

They eat their appetizer silently, and Lance blushes as Keith feeds him occasionally.

When they’ve had their meal, and dessert, they take a stroll to the observation deck where Keith set up tiny lights, with the help of pidge, to get them to glisten like the starts. Making it look like they stepped out into space. Lance gasped as Keith led him to a pile of blankets and pillows. Once they’re settled Keith props himself up on his elbow so he can look down at Lance, who is lying on his back, a soft smile on his face. “I wish I had something more entertaining to do, but I couldn’t find much at the space mall. Next time I might have to bring Coran with to help me figure out what things are.”

Lance reaches up, grabs Keith by the back of the neck, and pulls him into a passionate kiss. He pulls away just enough that he can whisper, “This was perfect.”

Keith makes a rumbling noise, and starts to kiss Lance again. He gets more daring, more…aggressive as the kiss continues, and Lance pushes him back to get him to stop. “Uh, sorry…” Keith pants.

“No it’s okay, just…I’m not an Omega. I know…I know your Alpha instincts want me to submit, but I—“

“No! I don’t. I know eventually you probably will, but I like how independent you are. I don’t need you to have a secondary gender, considering I don’t actually have one either. I just…couldn’t help myself.”

“O-Oh. I thought…” Lance trails, a blush creeping across his cheeks.

“You thought I was trying to assert myself? To make you become some compliant little house wife?” The tone of Keith’s voice made Lance shiver. “Make you be the good boy I know you can be.”

“K-Keith.”

Keith responds with a hum and nip to the scar on Lance’s neck.

“Keith.” Lance forces out a bit louder.

“Shit! Shit! I’m sorry Lance.” Keith stumbles over himself to get up and move away from the Cuban boy.

“Hey, come back. It’s okay, I just...I’m…” Lance clears his throat, takes a deep breath, and puts on the best seduction face he has. “I’m not a good boy. Not even you can tame me.”

Keith’s mouth hangs open until he sees the glint in Lance’s eyes, “I bet I can.” He pounces on Lance, and they tumble around until Keith has him pinned with his hands above his head. Keith’s knees are on either side of Lance’s hips, and they’re both panting. “It’s not nice to make fun of your date.”

Lance snorts, “You’re literally a cat boy…I have so many jokes I could have used. I just had to tease you a little. You thought I was so serious too.”

“You…weren’t?”

Lance pushes on Keith’s chest to get him to back up so he can sit. “No, well, maybe…I don’t know. You have to understand that all of this is new to me. You know I’m a blushing virgin, and I don’t know what I’ll like or not like. I don’t know when or if I’d even want to do any of that. I just enjoy spending time with you right now. I like the kissing, we can do more of that, a lot more of that. I know we’re kind of old now for me to be nervous about these things, but…I am. If…if you can’t handle that then…”

“I can!” Keith interrupts. “I can handle that. I just want you to stick around, okay?”

“Okay. Why don’t we call it a night though? Allura was talking about a brutal training session for tomorrow.”

Keith nods, holds his hand out for Lance, and helps him up. This time when they get to their rooms, Lance pecks Keith on the lips, lingering close enough that their breaths mingle for a couple of seconds before saying goodnight and stepping through his doorway.


	11. Author's Note

I know....the words Author's note are the worst two words ever. I feel it every time I see it. 

I'm not going to go into a bunch of detail because I kinda suck at opening up.

Anyway my mental health has taken a pretty big setback and I can't focus lately.

I really hate that I won't be giving you guys an update this week but my mind just won't cooperate. I promise you though that I am working on a new chapter. I just can't do it for this week. 

Thank you for your support in this fic and I'm sorry if I let anyone down.


	12. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone,
> 
> First off, I'd really like to say thank you for all your kind words and encouragement. I'm still not doing the greatest, but writing is one of my escapes and decided to buckle down and try to write some. 
> 
> I did project a little onto it, my writing tends to get a bit angsty when I'm in a funk, so I apologize for that. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy! And thanks again! You're all amazing people.

Brutal was the understatement of a life time. Lance is so sore he’s afraid to move from his seat at in the common area. Even with Keith standing behind him, rubbing his shoulders, he knows he’s going to feel this pain for days, maybe even weeks. That’s why, when the warning sirens go off, Lance just wants to cry. He jumps up, internally groaning, and runs to his lion. Every drop and turn to get to her sends a new jolt of pain through him. Luckily he’s feeding on Adrenalin right now, and once safely in Blue’s cockpit, he lets out a loud groan, completely forgetting about the mic in his helmet. “Lance you okay?” Keith’s concerned voice fills the space around his head.

“Peachy.”

Shiro chuckles a little and asks, “Allura what’s going on?”

“It looks like this small planet we’re about to pass sent out a distress call. As we approach it I can see the fleets of Galra, you may need to form Voltron, but let’s see if we can take them out before we need to do that though.”

“You heard her, let’s go.” Shiro said, the Black Lion roaring as it takes off out of the castle. 

The other four follow, and in no time at all are met with Glara fighter after fighter. For a long while they hold their own, and Shiro finally makes the call the form Voltron, because the fleets just never seem to stop. As Lance is working to fight though the mess to get into position, Blue get struck. Her power glitches, and she starts to fall. Lance shrieks from the pain that runs through him as he gets tossed around, unable to regain control of a lifeless lion. Blue takes his after hit, and then Lance feels the all too familiar pull of a Galra ship trying to take her.

“-uys…he—y…n—d s—ome, as-si-tance.” Lance’s mic breaks up.

“Lance! What?” Hunk asks.

“Guys, where did he go?” Pidge chimes in.

“Lance? Answer us!” Keith screams, making everyone flinch.

“Allura, do you see Blue?” Shiro shouts over his panicked Paladin’s.”

“A Galra ship is taking her. It looks like she lost power. We can’t seem to get through to Lance either.”

Suddenly Red roars and Keith zigs and zags through the destruction and remaining Galra fighters, he has to get to Lance before he’s taken into the Galra ship. Has to get to Lance because they get him out of Blue. He. Has. To. Get. To. Lance.

He grips onto his control harder than ever before, and urges Red to move faster, she needs to go faster. Keith grits his teeth as he slams into the side of Blue, his momentum pushing himself and Blue through the purple beam. He was lucky enough not to get caught in it.

“Shiro!” Keith screams over the coms again, “You’re the only one big enough to get him to the castle.”

“Hunk, Pidge, help Keith get rid of the Galra’s, make us a path, then the three of you follow. Part of me thinks this was a trap. They weren’t even attacking the planet. Allura, get a worm hole ready.”

Everyone jumps to their jobs, and Black scoops Blue up in it’s massive Jaws, and Shiro pushes her at full speed. When they reach the hangers, Black gently lays Blue on the castle floor. Her body is limp, but there are sparks flying all around her. She seems to have multiple new dents that Shiro knows Lance will do his best to buff out. He has a thing about keeping Blue looking as good as new.

As soon as the rest of the lions enter the castle, they’re immediately shot through a worm hole. It feel slike an eternity until they can leave their Lions, and Keith is the first one. He begs Blue to open up, but her power is too low. So Pidge and Hunk get to work connecting their lions to her. They hope it’s connected right so they don’t accidently electrocute Lance in the process of jump starting Blue.

After a couple of tries it works, and Blues eyes light up. After another moment, she stands leans over, and opens her mouth. Keith sprints in and finds Lance on the floor next to his controls. The black body suit under his armor is torn, with blood slowly seeping from them. He looks around and can tell that Lance was thrown around the cockpit. There’s blood smears over his controls and chair. “Shit, shit, shit!” Keith kneels next to Lance. “Hey…Lance,” he lowers his voice, gently turning Lance onto his back. Lance’s helmet cracked and a piece of the visor is lodged into his cheek, too close to his left eye. “Fuck, Shiro!”

The Black Paladin comes running, and without asking scoops Lance into his arms, cradling him close, hoping he doesn’t injure him any further.

They hurry and get him into a healing pod, but Keith can’t stop worrying. As Coran watches his vitals Keith asks, “Is his eye going to be fine?”

“It seems so. It was just barely missed. Unfortunately, he will have scarring under his eye on his cheek bone. Our pods can’t make those go away. Luckily his other injuries weren’t as bad, he should be out in what you humans say as, a few hours?” Coran answers with a hand on Keith’s shoulder.

Keith sighs, leaning his forehead against the pod. He knows since he became mostly human again he hasn’t done the greatest job at showing Lance how much he means to him. He hasn’t killed Lance’s insecurities, and he knows they’ll be even higher once he gets out of the pod. He’ll beat himself up for getting caught in the mess, and he’ll be devastated that his flawless skin on his face will be scared. Not that Lance is superficial, it’s just something he prides himself in because he’s put in the work. If Keith could guess, he would say its one thing Lance can control. The rest of his life feels so hectic and out of control, that he took it in a way that was his own.

The doors slide open and Shiro enters the med bay with Allura. “So it looks like they were targeting Blue. The lions and ship always automatically take record of any battles, for training purposes. We watched them and it looked like from the start they were attacking Lance more heavily than anyone else.”

“We just don’t know why.” Shiro adds.

“Haggar.” Keith hisses. “She’s pissed that Lance put up a damn good fight against her before she hit me with her whatever it is.”

“I wouldn’t doubt that she’s holding a grudge, or that she was able to get Zarkon to target Blue and Lance.” Allura agrees. “I suggest we all get some sleep, so we’re ready if they attack again.”

“You guys go ahead. I’m going to wait for Lance.”

Shiro pats Keith on the shoulder, then leaves with Coran and Allura. Sitting with his back to Lance’s Pod Keith angrily sways his tail. How dare they attack his mate. How dare they even think it. Even with their bond rocky from misunderstandings, things were starting to look up. Keith won’t let anything ruin that.


	13. Chapter 12

Lance wakes up in the most uncomfortable bed ever. He rubs his eyes, and immediately jumps out of bed. There’s two desks crammed into a small dorm room. One is covered in skin care products and a light blue laptop. The other has different gadgets and books. He sees a familiar orange uniform hanging on the back of a chair. He rubs his eyes a few times, unable to believe his eyes. “I-I’m back?”

He jumps when the door swings open, “There you are! Man, Iverson is pissed because you’ve missed half of your classes today. I heard him talking suspension if you don’t show after lunch!”

“H-Hunk? Are you real?”

He pats himself and chuckles, “Feel pretty real. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just missing a few pieces I guess.”

“What do you mean?”

“Did we finally defeat Zarkon? Are all the planets safe?”

Hunk looks horrified for a moment, then touches Lances forehead. “Lance, buddy, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“What? Stop messing with me. Voltron! Remember?”

“What the heck is Voltron?”

Lance rubs his face harder this time, “Seriously Hunk. You are freaking me out!”

“Me? You’re the one talking about something called Voltron and Zarkon. Maybe you had a vivid dream.”

Lance sits down and puts his head in his hands. “What kind of dream involves robot cats, a castle that’s a ship, and Keith and I in a relationship?” Lance shrieks.

“Huh, at least we’re still together in your dreams.” Keith’s smooth voice comes from the doorway. “I missed you today in class. Where the heck was my sharpshooter for the battle sequence we had in the simulators?”

“M-Mullet? You’re…here? But I thought you were expelled?”

Keith snorts, “And give the number one spot to you? You may be my Fiancé, but I won’t let you win that easy.”

“F-Fiancé…” Lance chokes. “Fuck, what…what…how old am I? Why are we still at the Garrison? I was so much older in space, we had been there for like 6 years.”

“Um…your eighteen. Lance, maybe you should see the nurse. You and I have been dating for three years…you cheesingly proposed to me.” Keith explains.  
“O-oh. So…saving the Universe wasn’t a thing? And Shiro? They just left him out there?”

“Shiro is here? He’s busy saving your ass from Iverson.”

Lance is starting to get a headache, and decides to quit asking questions before they throw him into a loony bin. Instead he sighs, “That must have been one hell of a dream.”  
Hunk and Keith share worried looks, but Lance ignores them and gets dressed instead. He follows them around, eats lunch with them, and even goes to class. He finds out Shiro is a teacher now, same with Matt. Pidge has long hair, and goes by Katie, and everything is starting to feel too good. Especially when he made sure to call his mom, so he could hear everyone’s voices again.

Once afternoon classes are over, he heads to Keith’s dorm room, and the snuggle together on his bed to watch a movie. Lance shivers when Keith whispers in his ear, “You’re beautiful, you know that?” his breath ghosting over Lance’s neck.

Lance stares at him, his eyes flickering to Keith’s lips. “You really think so?”

“Yeah. I do. I never want you to forget it. Because your eyes are like looking into a crystal-clear ocean. Your hair is smooth like silk, and your lips…” he traces Lance’s bottom lip with his thumb, his finger-less gloves rough on his jaw. “Are delectable.”

He doesn’t care how cheesy Keith is being, he wants more than anything to kiss him right now, so he does just that. He closes the space between them, their mouths slotting together. The kiss becomes heated quickly, shirts are roughly tugged off along with pants. Lance crawls into Keith’s lap, and they both groan when their hardening members rub together. “Keith…” Lance whispers as he continues to grind against his fiancé.

“Tell me what you want…” Keith breathes, groping at Lances ass, pushing him down harder.

“You…only you.”

********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

He grunts as he falls into a hard chest. Blinking a few times it takes him a minute to adjust to the harsh lighting. When he sees Keith holding him, still in his Paladin armor, and see’s everyone, including Allura and Coran, he can’t help but cry. He knew it was a dream, but…he wanted it to be real. So much that he let himself get lost in it. Still leaning heavily on Keith he reaches up tugging on one of his furry black ears, getting him to tilt his head. “Can we go to me to my room?”

Keith doesn’t hesitate and helps Lance get his balance, leading him to the Blue Paladin’s room. When the door slides shut Lance can feel Keith staring at him, so he looks up. “You’re beautiful.” Keith breathes. Feeling the need to ground himself to the fact that Lance is awake, and to keep his promise of letting Lance know how amazing he really is.

Unlike in his dream, Lance doesn’t hesitate, doesn’t ask for reassurance, he grabs the collar of Keith’s armor and pulls him into a searing kiss. “I need you, please.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! It really means a lot to me that you all take your time to read my work!


	14. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! Early update! 
> 
> Warning: This chapter contains M/M smut. It's mild, but just a fair warning. Also I apologize because I haven't written much smut, so I'm hoping it's not just a complete mess.

Lance’s heart is racing as Keith trails kisses along his jaw, hand firmly holding his waist. Keith turns him, and they stumble their way to Lance’s bed. The Blue Paladin’s knees hit it, causing them to fall onto it not so gracefully. Lance chuckles then grabs Keith’s face, pulling him into another kiss. When they pull apart Keith whispers against his lips, “What do you need?”

“I-I don’t know. I just…just need you.”

Keith nods numbly, “Okay, but tell me when to stop. I don’t want to do anything you’re not ready for. Since…”

“I’m inexperienced…thanks for the reminder.” Lance scoffs.

Keith rolls his eyes worming his hand behind Lance to grab the zipper of the med suit. As he frees Lance form it, Lance plays with Keith’s fluffy ears, making them twitch. Once Lance is left in his shark boxers, Keith starts to strip, but Lance stops him, and does it himself.

Once Keith is matching Lance, down to a pair of black briefs, his tail stilling out the top of the back of them. Lance experimentally tugs on it, and Keith growls in a low, non-intimidating way. “Hmm, you like that?”

Keith nods, and Lance pulls again, this time stroking down it gently. “Why…why are we doing this?” Keith asks, then buries his face against Lance’s collar bone, sucking marks into it.

“I...mmm. I had I d-dream. It felt so…ah…so real.”

Keith pushes Lance back, until he’s hovering over him. “What happened int it?”

Dipping his head Keith kisses down Lance’s chest. “W-we were at the Garrison. Shiro’s mission…was a…nrg…” Lance is cut off from Keith’s tongue on his nipple. “He was there…alive. Hunk, Pidge…we…we were. Hmm, Keith…we were…engaged.”

Keith pops his head up and cocks it to the side. Lance looks completely wrecked and they haven’t even done much yet. “And the thought of us being engaged leads to this?”  
Lance blushes and shakes his head. “We…I was…on your lap.”

Smirking Keith rubs their groins together and Lance gasps, “Something like that happen?”

“Yeah…”

“Can I…touch you?” Keith asks, grinding into Lance again.

“Please.”

In one switch movement, Keith has Lance naked with his cock, a slight shade darker than his already sun-kissed skin, in his hand. He cups it loosely, just barely stroking it. “Do you have any idea, how badly, I wanted to get my hands on you the night you touched yourself? Is this anything like you imagined?”

“B-better. So…much…arg, just…please stop teasing.” 

Without warning, Keith drops his head, and engulfs the head of Lance’s length. He arches and grips onto Keith’s hair with both hands. As the sensation gets to be too much, Lance bucks his hips, shoving his cock into his mouth. Keith gagged, and pulled off. 

“Sorry!” 

Keith kisses him gently, and lance can taste the saltiness from himself. Somehow while Keith has his tongue in his mouth, he’s able to get rid of his briefs, and Lance feels his hardness against his, making his veins pulse with desire. When Keith wraps a hand around the both of them, stroking them together, he moans into the Red Paladin’s mouth. His hands grab onto his hair again, brushing along Keith’s cat ears.

“Fuck, Lance. You have no idea how long I’ve wanted you.”

Lance shudders, not realizing he had such a thing for Keith’s deep, husky voice. “T-talk more…”

Keith thrusts into his hand, his dick rubbing faster against Lance’s. “You’re so beautiful, so…so amazing. You’re always such a tease. It’s taken all of me will power, not to bend you over everything in this Castle.”

“Ngh…I-I don’t tease.”

“Maybe not consciously. But the way your hips move when you walk, the way you smirk…fuck Lance, it does this to me.”

Gasping Lance claws at Keith’s back, “I’m---I’m…”

Keith kisses him softly, and breaths against his lips, “Come for me…”

And Lance does just that, his hips stuttering against Keith’s riding his orgasm out. Then Keith lens back on his knees, some deep instinctual part of him needing to claim Lance. He quickly jacks himself off, his come splattering on Lance’s tan chest. He collapses next to him, kissing the scar on Lance’s neck where he bit him, what seems like so long ago.   
Lance turns his head, giving more access to his neck. Keith takes the hint and sinks his teeth in. They’re not as sharp anymore, but he’s still able to break the skin with some effort. The beast within him growls in approval. When he pulls away he laps at the wound, loving the taste of his mate.

Keith’s head shoots up, and Lance looks at his confused. “What’s wrong?”

“Are you…my mate?”

Lance chuckles, “Did your orgasm give you amnesia? We bonded because we’re both part alien and you bit me when you were a freaking cat.”

“Yeah, but…would you say we’re mates? Because when I think about mates…I think about…life long.”

Lance reaches up and strokes Keith’s jaw, “I’m…okay with that…”

Keith response by kissing Lance’s breathe away. 

When they part Lance groans. “I need to clean up. I’ll be right back.” 

Keith watches his amazing view of Lance’s ass as he walks away, and then flops onto his back when he disappears into the bathroom. He’s just about to get comfortable when he hears Lance scream. Jumping out of bed, he hurries into the bathroom, where Lance is staring horrified into the mirror, his fingers brushing the scar under his eyes.

“Lance…”

“What….how?”

“You were flung around your cockpit, your helmet…shattered…a piece of it almost lodged into your eye. It was, so…deep.”

“No….no, no…my…I…I take suck good care of my skin…Keith…you don’t understand. All I have going for me are my looks and now…now I’m just…”

Grabbing Lances shoulders Keith shouts, “Don’t ever say that again. You are so much more than your looks. Your funny, and smart. Compassionate, and brave. That scar is nothing but a reminder of how you kick ass in space every day. You’re still just as beautiful as you’ve always been.”

Lance glances in the mirror once more before moving out of Keith’s grasps to start the shower. He’s about to step in when he looks over his shoulder, “What to join me?”  
Keith silently follows, and once they’re in, he kisses Lance right on his scar.

He touches the scar again, the skin not as smooth as the rest of his face anymore. “Do I at least look tough?”

Keith raises and eyebrow, but gets punched in the shoulder for it. “What? I just don’t picture you as a tough guy. You’re strong yes, but now like…rough around the edges. I do think when we get older, you’ll look pretty bad-ass with it. Like how Shiro looks with his scar on his nose. It became just a part of him, he embraced it, and it suits him. Besides, you can pull anything off.”

Lance snorts, but appreciates Keith’s effort.


	15. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay for procrastination? I should really be working on my book that I'm formatting, but...I just wanted to write instead. 
> 
> This is a short but I feel like it has some important plot info in it.
> 
> Also Warning: Langst...lets be really this entire story has Langst, but yeah, just a heads up.

A few weeks have gone by without any incident from the Galra, but that of course means the attack on them now is more vicious than normal. Most of the fleets seems to be going after Blue. Lance is fighting the best he can, and Blue has even taken things into her own hands…paws…a few times. A particularly hard hit to the back of Blue’s neck sends them spiraling out of control. Then Lance can feel the familiar pull of a tractor beam. He pushes blue as hard as he can, but he can’t get out of it. Hunk even tried slamming his lion into Lances but it barely nudged him, and got Hunk caught in the process. Keith, Shiro, and Pidge were too far out to save them, so Lance brings up his video com. “Hey guys, Hunk and I are being captured. I just…I know they won’t have us long because you guys will think of something, but…just in case. Keith, keep calm okay. I know you’re probably freaking out, but…just breathe okay. Everything will be okay. I love—” his com cuts off before he can finish and he can feel the Galra’s trying to rip into Blue. 

Not wanting his lion destroyed he swings her around, knocking them all back, and pats the arm rest. “Open up, I’m going out there.”

Blue protests with an angry growl that has the Galra pulling their weapons up.

“Don’t give me that. Once I’m out, put up your barrier, I don’t want them getting you. I’ll be fine.”

Reluctantly Blue lowers her head, and the Yellow lion follows. Hunk comes out bayard drawn until lance shakes his head, “There’s too many buddy.”

Hunk, visibly shaking, puts away his bayard and once they’re far enough from their lions, the barriers rise and the Galra are on Lance and Hunk. With a hard punch to the stomach, Lance drops to his knees, and a Galra soldier holds his arms behind his back, hoisting him back onto his feet.

They let them walk together for a while, both restrained by a Galra, both surrounded by at least six more. When they’re brought to the holding cells, Hunk and Lance are separated, each tossed in their own cell. 

“Strip.” One of the Galra’s instruct.

“Shouldn’t you take me on a few dates first?” The smirk on Lance’s face falls and he gulps when a gun is pointed right at his throat. “Okay…okay. Just, put the gun down.”

The Galra does, and Lance pulls his armor off. When he’s in his under-armor, the Galra gestures for that too. Sighing, lance peels off the suit that’s like a second layer of skin. He’s not sure what he thought he was hiding in there, but once he’s in just his boxers, which are luckily just a solid blue this time, the soldier seems satisfied. He scoops up Lance’s armor and locks the cell behind him. 

Pressing his face against the cold bars he looks back and forth down the hall, before he whispers, “Psst, Hunk.”

“Y-yeah.”

“Did they take your clothes too?”

“Uh, yeah.” He quiet for a moment, “Lance…I’m kind of freaking out.”

“I know buddy, just…hang in there okay. Everyone will be tracking us, heck I’m sure we haven’t even left the battle yet. They’ll get us out of here.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that.” Haggars ragged voice fills the hall, and she appears out of thin air, causing Hunk to squeal, but Lance stands his ground. “We’ve already fled. Besides, why would they want to come save someone like you? Maybe the big guy, but you? Your replaceable. To prove it, we’ve dropped your lions out of our ships before we left. Interesting enough their barriers went down as the others scooped them up. I might just let the yellow paladin go too.”

“They wouldn’t replace me.”

Haggar’s laugh is so cynical it makes Lance shiver. “I can feel your quintessence. I know your doubts. I also know the secret you and your little team hold. I know your blood mingles with Altean blood. There isn’t many of them left you know. Especially no pure Altean’s. But…we must take what we can get.”

Lance glares at her while Hunk panics, “Take? What do you mean? What are you taking?”

She turns her yellow eyes on him and smirks, “Him. He is ours now. I will pump him so full of quintessence that he will ooze it. He will either become one of my druids, or…die”

“Then I guess you’ll have to kill me.” Lance snaps. He’s spent too many years fighting these bastards. There’s no way he’s going down without a fight.

“Ah, you see, it’s not my choice. The quintessence will decide if your fragile body can handle it’s power or not.”

Then she raises a hand and a purple streak flies from it, catching Lance in the shoulder. He screams, the pain is more intense than anything he’s ever felt. Hunk screams for her to stop, but she just raises her other hand and knocks Lance onto his back from the sheer force of her power. 

Lance’s vision starts to blur and he loses consciousness with screams surrounding him…if they’re his, Hunk’s or both? He couldn’t tell.


	16. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone,
> 
> so this is the last chapter.
> 
> This story kind of got away from me and went way off track from where I originally wanted it to go. So I decided to wrap it up.
> 
> Also I've been working on a Rise of the Guardians AU, which I posted about a while ago on my tumblr: anxiouslynerdy , I'll start posting that probably in the next week or two.
> 
> Sorry again for the weird direction this story took! I hope you still enjoyed it!

Lance isn’t sure how much time has passed. Between being tortured by Haggar and the other druids, Hunk trying to reassure him, and the pain coursing through his body, he lost track of time. Lately thought, his scar from Keith has been tender. He doesn’t know if it has to do with them being separated, or if the overload of quintessence is doing something crazy to it. All he knows is right now…he wants the pain to stop…right now he just wants to curl up with his mullet-haired boyfriend.

“Lance?” Hunk calls out.

“Hmm.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been pushed off a building and ran over by a truck multiple times.”

Hunk’s silent for a moment, before telling him. “It’s been almost a week. They’ve increased the number of times they experiment on you. Last night Haggar was angry that you weren’t showing any signs of changing.”

“Good,” Lance groans. “I don’t want to be a druid.”

When they hear the swoosh of a door opening, they both get quiet. Haggar makes her way over to Lance’s cell, opens it, and walks right in. If Lance had the energy or the strength to fight her, he would have. “Can you walk?”

“No.”

“Pity.” She bends over and grabs one of his ankles and easily starts to drag him out of his cell.

“WAIT! Where are you taking him?” Hunk shrieks.

“If he survives I’m sure he’ll tell you all about it.” She sneers, and Lance helplessly tries to grab ahold of anything.

He’s dragged across the cold ships floor until a Galra soldier picks him up and tosses him onto a hard table. His wrists and ankles get shackled to the table, and with a press of a button the table tilts, holding him in an upright position. He lets his head drop forward, refusing to meet the eyes of any of the monsters around him.   
When a needle pierces the crease of his elbow, he bites his lip, drawing blood, as fire hot liquid enters his body. He knows it’s straight quintessence, it feels the same as Haggar using her own on him. Feeling like his body is going to melt he begs, “Stop! Please…it…h-hurts.”

A clawed hand grips his jaw lifting his head, “I told you before, you will either become a druid, or die,” Haggar hisses.

Lance’s vision starts to blur, and he’s pretty sure he feels something leaking from his nose…maybe blood. 

“Turn it up all the way. If his body cannot handle it, he is not worthy of his blood.”

This time Lance screams until his voice gives out. His mouth gets a coppery taste to it, and he feels insanely hot. He’s just barely able to look up when the door bursts open, and just before he blacks out he sees a familiar mop of black hair.

The next time he opens his eyes, his body is caught by the Red Paladin as he falls from the healing pod. Lance numbly reaches up, frowning as he pats around on Keith’s head.   
“Hmm, no more cat-boy?” He mumbles.

“No, all of my side effects went away a few days ago.”

Lance nods and pushes away from Keith. He stumbles a little but doesn’t want help. He bats away everyone’s hands, bit his heart does swell a little, seeing that Hunk is there and okay. He starts to walk away, but Coran steps in front of him. “We should speak about what happened.”

“Nope. I’m good. I just need to get some food goo in me and take a power nap. Then I’ll be good to go.” Lance pats Coran’s shoulder, noticing the blue markings on his hand for the first time. They seem to follow his veins. He pushes up the sleeves of the med suit and gawks at his arms. “Wh-what’s this?”

“Druid markings.” Allura tells him.

Lance starts to shake and scratch at the blue lines, “No…I don’t…I won’t be like them.”

“Lance, Druids aren’t bad. Just the ones now are. Our druids used to practice healing and helpful magic, not…not the corrupt quintessence dark magic Haggar and her followers use.” Allura explains.

“No…I don’t want to be a druid. I’m just Lance. I’m just human. I’m not…I’m not like them. I’m…I’m…” He starts to crumble, but Keith is right there when he needs him.

“No one thinks you’re like them. Remember when I found out I was Galra? You said I’m still Keith. You were right, and you’re still you. You just…glow a little more.”

Lance’s eyes meet Keith’s, “What if I hurt you? Anyone of you?”

“You won’t.” Shiro’s voice is firm. “We don’t even know if you can do anything, or if it will wear off.”

Lance nods, pulls away from Keith and sighs, “I just…need some time.” They let him go, knowing he would calm down and come join them later. Little did they know that Lance could feel the power drumming under his skin, so he went to the training deck.

He destroyed bot after bot with a pulse of blue light. After he didn’t show up for dinner, Keith came looking for him. He found Lance sitting in the midst of the rubble from the training bots. He sits down next to the boy he bonded with, and Lance leans his head on Keith’s shoulder. “I’m a Druid.”

“I know, but that’s okay.”

“You still love me?”

“Yeah, I do. Do you still love me without the ears?”

Lance looks at Keith’s head and shrugs, “I guess.” When Keith’s brow furrows Lance bursts out laughing. “I’m just messing with you. Of course I do.” 

Keith growls a little before pouncing on his mate, kissing him fiercely.


	17. Author Note

Hey everyone! I started to post an Original work of mine! If you want to read it you can find it on my profile or here: [The Zanite Chronicles](http://archiveofourown.org/works/13207782/chapters/30212217)

 

Please don't feel obligated to read it! I just wanted to put it out there! Thanks so much for all the support on this fic! It means so so much to me! 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! Kudos and Comments are appreciated!!


End file.
